


It's The End of The World as We Know It

by Scribe_of_planes



Series: Old One Reader Story [1]
Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Reader-Insert, Will add more tags as we go, ocs are just side charas, old one reader, will eventually include optional x reader chapters w/ different charas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23129215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribe_of_planes/pseuds/Scribe_of_planes
Summary: You and several others were chosen by Elisabet Sobeck to be a part of the Hermes Project. A mission under Apollo's jurisdiction to cryo freeze sixteen people, each with their own specialties, who will raise and teach the first generation of humans once they emerge from the cradle facilities. However, something went wrong, and you woke up a thousand years later to human tribes that established themselves without the help of Hermes or Apollo.
Series: Old One Reader Story [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716835
Comments: 19
Kudos: 71





	1. And I Feel Fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is gonna be a big ol' work, and I hope y'all like it! If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please write them in the comments below, or contact me on tumblr @horizonzerodawnaesthetic.

Your eyes snapped open, something had shocked you out of your sleep. You tried to get your bearings when a tone pierced it's way through your eardrums.

“- not a drill. Please move to your designated cryopod. Repeat. This is not a drill. Please move-” the sirens blared over the intercom, the perfect cadence of the procedurally generated voice drilling into your head. You sat up and rubbed your eyes, cursing the grating tone against your ears. It took a moment, but the meaning of the words took control over how annoying you thought they sounded, and your eyes widened again.

 _Shit_.

 _Shit shit shit shit_ _shit_.

If you were being ordered to your cryopod, that meant the plague had finally gotten too close for comfort. You knew this day was inevitable, but it wasn’t supposed to be so _soon_.

You grabbed your focus off the table next to your cot (special issue, made by the bastard himself) and switched it on. About two dozen messages threw themselves at you, clamoring for your attention. You ignored them for now and threw your jacket on, then went out the door into the main hallway.

Pure. Chaos.

People were running in every conceivable direction up and down the corridor. The facility had been home to about fifty people, all working on the Hermes project. Anyone who wasn’t a Messenger had opted for MAiD (medical assistance in dying), and everyone needed to get to their places. Some were carrying papers or stacks of equipment, others weaved through the crowd, desperate to get to their destination. Some were crying. A lot of people were crying actually. And you probably would have been too, if you had been given the time to truly process what was happening.

You reopened the messages from your focus. About five of them were protocol messages telling you to get to your pod. Thirteen were from other Messengers, questioning if this was for real, what they should bring, and whether they should abandon their current projects. You sent them all the same message; Drop all projects and head to your pod ASAP. That is an order. Travis had sent you an audio file of It’s the End of the World As We Know It, by R.E.M, and while you were a fan of the song, you couldn’t spare the time or energy to appreciate his particular sense of humor. The final message was from Elisabet Sobeck, your superior, mentor, and closest friend, and amongst the crying, pleading, and calamity you witnessed as you sprinted down the corridor, it was the only thing that made your heart truly sink. It contained only two words.

_I’m sorry._

You stopped cold. As people ran by you they knocked your shoulders and shouted at you to move. But you couldn’t hear them. You couldn’t hear the sirens either. You couldn’t hear anything, your vision had tunneled, focused on the message that only shone for your eyes.

Your shoulders were shaking. No. Someone was shaking them. A face broke through the screen in front of you. It was Benjamin Granger, a fellow Messenger.

Your eyes flickered up to meet his, urgent and concerned. Whether from sleep, the pang of sadness that constricted your throat, or both, when you spoke, your voice came out slow, groggy, and scratched.

"Hey Big Ben, how's it ticking?" The nickname, as unoriginal as it was, was befitting of the nearly seven foot giant.

Ben was able to crack a smile, at least for your frazzled sake.

"Nothin' much inmate, it's just the end of the world." His own nickname for you had originally irritated you, but he argued that one terrible nickname earned another, and the name grew on you.

“Same as usual then?”

“Same as usual.” Ben brought himself next to you and pushed you forward by the space between your shoulder blades. "We better get going, we don't want to miss our caddy to the ice tray."

His words knocked some sense into you. You remembered Elisabet explaining how a hoverbus would take you and the rest of the Messengers to the Hermes facility. Once inside you would hurry to the "ice tray" a nickname earned by the two rows of eight cryopods, which unfortunately happened to resemble an old fashioned ice tray.

Ben ushered you to the bus, where the rest of the Messengers were already waiting.

"Glad to see, to see you made it L/N,” You looked up to see Analise in the driver’s seat. “we almost left, left without you, Granger ran back in to, to fetch you.” She was rubbing her hands together, that and her stuttering tipped you off that she was scared out of her mind. _Well_ , you thought, _I suppose she has every right to be._

“Morning Smithers, and I appreciate it.” Although she was sitting in the driver’s seat, Analise was only a backup in case the bus’s AI mapping system failed. Ever since the Plague, most systems ran on older AIs, and they tended to have a few bugs.

You took your seat next to the window as Ben slid in next to you. You resumed answering the messages on your focus as the engine rumbled to life. You opened up the message from Travis and typed back; "lol thanks, I'll jam to this on my way to be one of humanity's first popsicles." Even though your heart felt crushed, it was the least you could do for him. Even though your team was evacuating now, it would still be a few weeks before him and the rest of the alphas needed to shack up in Gaia prime. You figured a bit of lighthearted kindness would be better than anything else.

You clicked on the audio file and it began to play.

_“That's great! It starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane; and Lenny Bruce is not afraid…”_

Now you were back to staring at the message from Liz. The holographic words seemed to glare at you, begging you, daring you to respond. Although the two words seemed vague, you knew exactly what she was sorry for. She had promised to be there. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes. She had promised. You shook your head in an attempt to dispel your growing grief. Be realistic. With the impending swarm, she simply doesn’t have the time or resources to be there. But you had hoped. You wanted to see her again, one last time, before you were frozen for an unknown amount of centuries. That is, assuming this worked at all.

You swallowed and stared out the reinforced window as the hoverbus pitched and jerked across the rough terrain. In the distance was a wall of smoke that flagged the front line of the Faro machines. You closed your eyes and tried to suppress the memories of gunfire and instead focus on the lyrics as the bus rumbled on to what could be your final resting place.

“It's time I had some time alone/

It's time I had some time alone/

It's time I had some time alone.”

~~~

About an hour and a half later the bus jerked to a stop, waking you from a nap that must have snuck up on you. You motioned Ben to move out of your way so you could stand at the front of the bus. You stood next to the driver’s seat and stared back into the cabin, fifteen pairs of eyes staring back at you, and one more from the side. Ben flashed a thumbs up and you took a deep breath and stretched the most sincere smile you could muster across your face. Show time.

“Alright guys, this is it. I know this isn’t what we were expecting. I know we thought we would have more time. More time to learn. More time to prepare. More time to say goodbye.” Liv’s message flashed through your mind and you faltered. But you cleared your head and persisted. “And I know we’re thinking of the people we left behind. We’re thinking of our colleagues, our friends, our families. I know that this morning, our hearts are heavy. But we are only thinking of what we will lose. Think instead, of the new Earth we will create. Of the new people that will be born, and the cultures they will make. Think instead of the memories to be made, the friends to be met, and the family to be found. And unlike the others, who will only hope for their creations to bring about a new Earth, we will see its fruition. Take a deep breath, and raise your head because this will not be the end! This will be a rebirth for the planet and humanity. Untouched by war and hatred, able to start anew, but with all the knowledge to make it better than it was.” You paused to take a look at the crowd, they were smiling now, and looked ready to go. They were confident, but you still needed to release the tension. You smirked and added, “And, if none of that does it for you, do it because Ted Faro is the biggest asshole you ever met, and you can’t wait to stick it to him.” The crowd in front of you erupted into cheers and laughter, and you felt the tension practically dissolve. You turned to your right. “Analise, open the door, and let’s get out of here.”

“Right away ma’am.” She pulled the lever that opened the door, and everyone filed out after you.

“Head on up to the main chamber, we'll all freeze together." You waited for everyone to exit the bus, then went back in to make sure nothing was left behind. It was all clear, so you jogged to catch up with the group, and followed the last person inside. The door scanned your DNA and let you inside. Everyone was setting their bags in the lockers next to their pods and saying their last goodbyes to each other. You put your bag in the locker next to the first pod, then went to check on Hermes.

The large monitor in front of the door lit up as you drew closer, anticipating your arrival. "How are we looking Hermes?"

"All systems online and functional, Messenger captain Y/N L/N." Hermes’ voice was calm, but it was stitched together so poorly it reminded you of early programs like SIRI and ALEXA. Unlike the alarm voice that woke you, his programming was newer, and hadn’t had the time to be perfected. You and Elisabet had figured he was functional enough.

"Fantastic, what's the freeze expectancy?"

"Assuming all things go as planned, the cryopods should last for approximately three thousand and fifty seven years, eleven months, and six days."

"Shoo, that sure is a long time isn't it Herms?"

"In comparison to your lifespan, affirmative."

"You don't think.. we'll need all that time? Right?" Though you weren't really asking Hermes, he answered anyway.

"Unknown. I do not have the available information or processing power to predict how long you will be in cryostasis."

"I know Herms, it was rhetorical, I didn't expect you to-"

"However, due to the nature of the Zero Dawn project, it would be best if you were frozen for the least amount of time as possible. Additionally, the prolonged time frozen could have yet unknown impacts on your psyche, damage to any or all messengers would be unfortunate.”

“True, but I think we’ll be-”

“Additionally,” Hermes paused, with something like anxiety in his voice.” I would be… lonely.”

You looked at Hermes’ monitor, narrowing your eyes at the screen, attempting to parse some meaning out of the waveform that moved with his voice. Elisabet had never said anything about giving Hermes a personality, but you supposed with such advanced systems it was bound to happen.

“I’m sorry to hear that Herms, but I’m sure we’ll be out before you know it.”

Movement to your left caught your eye. Ben was waving at you to hurry up. You turned your head back to Hermes. “Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got a date I just can’t miss.”

“Affirmative. The plague is drawing near, and all Messengers must make their way to their cryopods.”

As you reached the group, most were standing directly in front of their pods. The only people with the authority to open or close them was yourself and Elisabet, anymore people would have been too risky. Though Hermes also had the power to manually open each one. And as Elisabet was unable to be there, Hermes would have to close yours.

You faced the group, taking in their faces for what could be the last time. They didn’t look as sad as before, but there was still an underlying fear in each person’s gaze. You cleared your throat.

“Welp. Is everyone ready?” Everyone nodded and took their place in front of their pod if they weren’t there already. You stepped up to the first one, Analise’s, and opened it. She stepped inside and you grabbed her shoulders. “Hey, this is gonna work, we’ve been busting our asses to get this right. It will work.” She nodded and sat in the pod, smiling softly. You stepped back and shut the door, then started the freezing process. Everyone watched and held their breath, the light above the chamber flashed yellow, then turned green.

“Cryostasis successful.” Hermes’ voice chimed from the speakers, and everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Much more confident, each person waited for you to put them in their pod, and each one shone green. Finally you got to Ben.

“See you in a couple centuries big guy.”

“It will only feel like seconds.”

“True enough, count ‘em off for me?”

Ben laughed and began to count, “One, two, three.”

You chuckled, “Cut it out, I can’t freeze you if you’re talking.”

Ben laughed and settled into his chair. You shut the door and turned on the pod. The light turned green, and now it was your turn.

You climbed into your pod and took a deep breath. Elisabet had instructed you on everything that could possibly go wrong, and each and every scenario was flashing through your mind. You calmed yourself down and made the decision.

“Hermes, I’m ready.”

“Initiating cryostasis. Sleep well, Y/N.”

You closed your eyes as cold seeped into you from the walls of the cryopod, as the chemicals in the air lulled you into sleep, you remembered how tonight was supposed to be long distance charades with Travis, looked like you were going to miss it.

~~~

Your body began to warm and your eyes fluttered open, you were trying to remember what you had just been thinking of, when a synthetic voice rang around you.

“Cryostas-stas-stasis interrupted, attempting to trouble-trouble-troubleshoot. Significant damage to main systems found."

You stepped out of your pod, and a headache worried behind your forehead. Your throat felt like you had run a marathon in the arctic. You brought your hand up to your head and tried to understand what was happening. Only two people could interrupt the freezing process. one of them was you, and you were pretty sure you didn't do anything.

"Hello?"

A familiar voice called out to you from your right. Standing in front of Hermes' terminal was a red-haired young woman. You couldn't help but let a smile crack across your face.

"Liz?"

You ran toward her, and kept talking as you drew closer. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you couldn't make it?" You took a closer look at her. "Did your hair grow out? And what are you wear-" You stopped in your tracks, the smile dropping from your face.

"You're not Liz."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's chapter one, finally out there in the world! As said before, please let me know what you think! Any and all comments are greatly appreciated!


	2. Your Circuit's Dead, there's Something Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Sylens's guidance, Aloy searches for ruins of the Old Ones, to discover what lies beyond the doors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is in Aloy's POV, but it will switch back next chapter, I hope it wasn't too confusing!

“It should be just over this hill.” Sylens’ voice, annoying as ever, pulled Aloy out of her thoughts. She had been mulling over the contents of the Grave Hoard, and she felt like she had been left with more questions than answers. Now, Sylens was directing her to another area he had come across, Northeast of Brightmarket. Another door of the Old Ones, a door that would not open for Sylens, no matter how he pried, but a door that may open for her.

“I don’t need you to babysit me Sylens, I know how to walk,” Aloy said. It would be an understatement to say that she was annoyed, Sylens had been hounding her to search ruin after ruin, and although she was grateful for the knowledge she received, she was beginning to feel used.

“I am eager to learn the secrets this ruin holds, and you should be too, with every ruin we delve into-”

“-We get closer to learning the truth, yes, I know. And funny you should say ‘we’, because I don’t see you walking beside me, or getting cuts on the rocks and metal, or fighting off hordes of machines. Last time I checked, I was doing all of that.” Aloy’s frustration was palpable, and Sylens decided to stay silent. She had taken her Focus off to silence him before, and he didn’t want to anger her into doing it again.

As Aloy crested the hill, she could see a crevice in the rock wall several hundred feet in front of her. “I suppose that’s the place?” Sylens didn’t answer, which Aloy took for a yes. She sighed and continued on. She would have to admit, she was beginning to feel the thrill of possible answers, and she hurried onward.

Aloy walked through the fissure, at most times she had plenty of space around her, but a few times she had to turn sideways to keep moving. She eventually came to a large opening, a subterranean room naturally carved out by time. Above her, light broke in from the ceiling, and several cave-ins led to the mesa above her. She thought to herself that if she ever needed to bring a party of people down here, she would take that way, rather than the crack in the wall, Erend would never fit through that. She chuckled to herself at the thought of Erend stuck in one of the skinnier parts where even she had struggled, it was an entertaining -if distracting- thought.

Moving along, Aloy came to the door, it wasn’t as big as the other ones she had seen, but it was still massive. As she stepped onto the platform, the door spoke.

“Scanning Biosignature. Welcome Elisabet Sobeck.”

“Seems like this one works.” Aloy said. She wondered briefly why this one allowed her in, but the one in Mother’s Embrace denied her. Perhaps it was due to the metal devil?

Aloy’s thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. The sound reminded her of grindstones, but of they were five times bigger, mixed with the strange pumping of a Sawtooth’s legs. Once the door froze, it revealed a dark chamber.

Aloy stepped inside, as soon as she moved a few feet into the doorway the lights above her snapped on. A huge screen flickered to life without the aid of her Focus, warping and flashing colors at her. Now Aloy could see the room, the part she was entering had a large screen, and to her right were two rows of.. She couldn’t quite figure out what they were. She thought the Carja called them wardrobes? Yes, that was it, to her right were two rows of metal wardrobes, how strange. The lights in the room quickly melted into red as Aloy drew closer to the screen. Above her, a voice crackled.

“Cry-cryostasis error. Failed connection to sub-function Apoll-Apollo. Manual release re-re-re-required.” A series of lights trailed down from the screen to a desk below it. They directed her eyes to a circle.

Aloy walked up the screen, confused yet intrigued.

“Cryostasis? Apollo? Sylens, any idea what any of this means?”

“Not a clue. Though perhaps you should do as it asks.” 

Aloy got close enough to see that the circle was actually a valve of some kind, inlaid in the table. She laid her hand on it and a ray of light came out from the screen, in a way that was very similar to what the door had done just minutes earlier. The ceiling-voice spoke again.

“Scanning Biosig-sig-signature. Alpha prime-prime confirmation. Proceed.”

The valve rose above the table with a hiss, Aloy grabbed it on both sides and pulled.

It didn’t budge.

“Try the other way.” Sylens suggested, voice laced with anticipation.

“Oh really Sylens? My next idea was to start lifting from the bottom, thank you so much for your input.”

Aloy readjusted her hold on the valve and pushed in the  _ other _ direction. After a split-second the valve gave, and she turned it as far as it would go.

The lights stopped and for an unnerving moment, everything was silent. Just before Aloy could wonder if anything would happen, one of the wardrobes  _ opened _ .

Aloy stood in shock as someone  _ stepped out _ of the wardrobe. They were coughing and holding onto the side of the wardrobe, -well actually, it was safe to say that probably wasn’t a wardrobe- they looked disoriented, like the smallest wind could knock them over. Aloy tried to identify what tribe they were from, but they didn’t have any familiar markings. And their clothes were shiny, but not in the way Oseram armor shone, more like wet grass.

During this time, the ceiling-voice spoke up again, “Greet-greetings Messenger Y/N, Cryostas-stas-stasis interrupted, attempting to trouble-trouble-troubleshoot. Significant damage to main sys-systems found."

There was that word again,  _ cryostasis _ , Aloy brought herself back to her senses, and spoke up.

“Hello?”

Their face shot up, and Aloy watched shock melt away into familiarity. A smile broke across the stranger’s face, and they turned to face her fully.

"Liz?"

Their voice was scratched and sounded like how a child tries to whisper. The stranger didn't seem to notice.

They took a step forward, then broke out into a run straight for Aloy. She took a step back as the stranger flew a flurry of nearly unintelligible questions at her.

"What'chyu doon hir? I though you said you couldn make it?" Their words became more articulate the more they spoke. The stranger was now only a few feet in front of Aloy, and now they looked confused. They stretched their hands towards Aloy's face, and she leaned away as she took a step back. The stranger continued with their questions. "Did your hair grow out? And what are you wear-" the stranger froze in place and their hand dropped to their side as their eyes widened.

"You're not Liz."

"No. I'm not. Who are you? And who's 'Liz'?"

"Tell me first."

Aloy put her hands on her hips, she really didn't want to do this. "I got you out of that... whatever that was, you at least owe me your name."

"Got me out of-" the stranger's voice trailed off as the screen behind Aloy tore their attention from her. They walked up to the desk and began tapping their fingers in the air. Aloy realized two things: one, they were seeing something she couldn't see, and as Aloy looked closer she noticed a focus like hers on the stranger's head, though it was slightly larger, and a matte black instead of white. Two, Aloy realized she must look ridiculous when she's using  _ her _ Focus.

"Hermes, tell me what's happening, what went wrong." 

The ceiling-voice, or 'Hermes', as the stranger had said, repeated its earlier message.

"Cryostasis-sis-sis error. Failed conne-nection to sub-function Apollo."

The stranger rested their hands on the desk.

"That's… not good." They shot a quizzical look at Aloy, then turned back towards the screen. "Hermes, how… how long was I frozen for?"

"Approximately-ly nine hun-hundred and thirty seven years."

The stranger paled and their grip on the edge of the desk tightened. They staggered backwards and rubbed their face. 

“No no no no  _ no _ …”

“I take it that’s not good?” Aloy stepped forward, she didn’t need to know this person to feel a hint of empathy. 

The stranger flipped their head back to Aloy, as if noticing her for the first time. They slowly stepped back as their hands slid off the desk, they then turned the rest of their body to face Aloy. They jutted out a sideways hand towards her, their palm facing left, and she looked at it quizzically.

“I don't think I ever introduced myself, my name’s Y/N, I’ve been frozen in time for nearly a thousand years, everyone I've ever known is dead. It’s great to meet you. Your name is...?”

Sylens gasped from Aloy’s focus. His words buzzing in her ear echoed her own thoughts.

“A thousand years!? Does that mean you’re an Old One? From before the machines took over?”

The Old One glanced from their out-stretched hand back to Aloy’s face. Their hand dropped to the side and went in their pocket.

“Your name. I believe I asked your name.”

“Aloy.”

“Well Aloy, I do believe I am an ‘Old One’, though I can’t say I’m too fond of the name. I’m going to have to ask for your help, you see I-”

An echoing metallic bang cut off Y/N’s words, and Aloy swiveled around to see the source of the noise.

A pack of three watchers stood in the doorway. Y/N gasped and pointed at them. “What the hell are those?!?”

“What do you mean ‘what are those’, didn’t you make them?”

“Not that I recall!” 

The machines’ lenses morphed from yellow to red and the watchers charged letting out a mechanical roar as they did. Aloy nocked an arrow and sent it flying towards the closest watcher. She hit it directly in the lens and it fell over, its light fading out. Aloy loosed another arrow at the second watcher, hitting it in the chest. It slowed down but it didn’t stop. As Aloy put another arrow in the machine, killing it, the other watcher ran by her, directly towards Y/N. Aloy watched as the machine jumped into the air, ready to pounce on Y/N.

Aloy braced herself to see the worst, but then watched in amazement as a small pink wall -similar to the pink light of Aloy’s focus- formed in front of Y/N’s forearm. They raised it above their head just in time for the Watcher to land right on top of it. They bent their knees and threw the Watcher off of them. The watcher landed a few feet away on its side, and struggled to get up. Y/N gestured at Aloy. “What are you waiting for? Shoot it!” they yelled. 

Aloy came back to her senses and shot the machine in the heart, killing it. 

Y/N bent down to examine the machine. “What are these things?” Aloy crouched beside them.

“They’re called watchers, they watch over herds of machines like striders and grazers, then they alert bigger machines if there’s a threat.” Y/N walked over to the pod they had come out of, and grabbed a backpack from what appeared to be a small crate next to it.

“Bigger machines? Like what?”

“Like scrappers, or sawtooths, or-”

A mechanical roaring sounded from behind them, where two huge machines stood at the entrance of the chamber.

“ -ravagers. Sometimes they’ll alert ravagers.” Aloy finished.

One of the ravagers held their ground, shooting towards both of the humans. The other charged straight for them. One of the shots hit the pod Y/N had just come out of, destroying it.

“We need to get the hell out of here! Another shot like that could destroy everything!” Y/N was standing now, and Aloy stood up beside them.

“Agreed, follow me!”

Aloy grabbed Y/N’s arm and pulled them along behind her. She swerved past the charging ravager, leaving it skidding as it tried to quickly turn on the polished metal floors. Then they ran past the ravager at the door, which was still firing at them. Y/N used their pink wall to deflect the shots from the ravagers. Outside of the chamber Aloy pulled Y/N in front of her, pushing them towards the crack in the Mesa walls. The Old One got the message and ran faster towards the opening. They squeezed inside with Aloy right after them, just before a ravager shot hit the opening behind them. 

The opening was too small for any machine to fit through, but the two shimmied through to the other side. Once on the other side, they both sat under a nearby tree, where Y/N took a moment to catch their breath. 

"I'm going to need you to explain some things to me. First off, giant machine animals?"

"If you don't know what they are, neither do I. The machines have been here as long as anyone can remember. However, they've become more vicious, and some machines, like ravagers, are new. But I thought the Old One's made machines?"

"We did but," Y/N faltered, staring into the distance. "they weren't like that." After a pause they stood up and spoke again. "I suppose you've got some questions. But I'd like to go somewhere safer than here, especially with the sun setting." 

Aloy nodded and stood up beside them. “Of course. We’ll go to Meridian, I’m sure Avad would be interested in you.” They started walking South, the setting sun casting long shadows to their sides. Aloy glanced at Y/N, although she had many questions, one was burning particularly hot at the back of her mind. “So, how are you, you know, alive?”

“Good question. To be honest I’m almost as surprised as you are. Cryotech was brand new, if it hadn’t frozen me correctly, I would have suffocated.”

“Frozen? Like in the mountains? I’ve never heard of anyone doing anything other than freezing to death in the snow, let alone staying alive for hundreds of years.”

Y/N laughed, it was hoarse, and they scratched at their neck after it barked out, but despite that, Aloy didn’t think it sounded forced. It was like the first time they had laughed in a long while, regardless of being frozen. “It’s not quite the same kind of freezing, cryostasis is a much more delicate procedure, and it has to be monitored carefully.” The two passed by a stream, and Y/N reached into their pack and pulled out a circular container with two openings. They opened one side and dunked it in the water allowing the water to flow into it. They looked up at Aloy, who was watching them. “Self-filtering canteen, one side cleans, the other’s for drinking.” They pulled the canteen out, closed the lid and drank from the other. Y/N coughed and cleared their throat. “That’s much better. Anyway, it’s my turn, what are those?” They pointed at a group of striders grazing on the other side of the stream.

“Striders. They’re mostly harmless unless they decide to charge, which they rarely do. They carry blaze canisters on their backs, and till up the soil where they graze.” Aloy stood up to walk away, and Y/N joined them.

“What’s blaze?”

“Uh-uh, it’s my turn.” Aloy took a deep breath gathering her thoughts, she wanted to make sure she asked this correctly. “Why was that voice saying there was a malfunction? What went wrong?”

“‘That voice’ you heard was the program ‘Hermes’, and he was in charge of making sure I was released at the right time. Now obviously that didn’t happen, my best guess is that something happened to the program in charge of him, Apollo." Y/N took another drink out of their canteen. "Apollo was supposed to do two things. The first was to educate humanity, and -no offence- but that obviously didn’t happen. Second, he was supposed to tell Hermes when the first humans began incubating, and then Hermes would release us, his Messengers. That also didn’t happen. So something -I don’t know what- probably happened to Apollo.”

Y/N waited a moment to allow Aloy to digest this information. “Now, I believe it’s my turn again. What’s that?” They pointed at a glinthawk.

The two went back and forth like this for their entire trip to Meridian, neither one tiring of the other’s questions, and both equally as curious to learn about the other’s world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they're off to Meridian! Again, I hope the POV switch wasn't too confusing. As always leave any questions, comments, etc below! Thanks for reading!


	3. Welcome to the Human Race

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader and Aloy finally make it to Meridian, the glittering capital of Carjan lands. Reader struggles with their sudden popularity and tries not to get beheaded. Marad has a weird shirt, Avad has none at all. Awkward handshakes continue.

Your feet were sore. Your legs were sore. Your whole body was sore. 

The effects of long term cryostasis were unknown before they froze you, but muscle atrophy had been predicted, and you were beginning to think that prediction wasn’t far off. Your calves were burning, and you thought you could feel shin splints coming on. You had only been walking for two hours, but it felt like you just ran a Marathon.

Aloy seemed to pick up on your suffering, “It’s just a bit further, we had to go around the city to go in the East entrance.” 

You gave her a meager thumbs up, “Sounds great.” She raised an eyebrow at your hand, so you explained, “Thumbs up. It means ‘good’, a thumbs down however,” You flipped your wrist the opposite direction. “means bad.” 

She nodded slowly, “I’ll try to remember that.”

You put your hands back on the straps of your pack, shrugging it back onto your shoulders. Suddenly you realized that the road had become broader, and you saw a pair of people dressed like spartans at the corner. You pointed at them, “Who are they?”

Aloy smiled, “Carjan guards, we’re close to Meridian now, you should see it once we turn.”

The thought of being able to sit down and take off your pack gave you a second wind, and you started walking faster. As you drew close to the guards they straightened up and whispered to each other.

“It’s the machine whisperer.” Said the one on the left.

“I heard she could tame a Sawtooth at a glance" Replied the one on the right.

"Yeah, imagine what she could do to you."

"Shut up! Hey, who's that person with her?"

"I don't know, but they've got weird clothes."

You nodded politely to them as you passed. When you turned the corner you gasped and stopped in place.

"Holy. Shit."

Meridian stood in front of you, glittering and larger than anything you had expected. A long wooden bridge stretched out in front of you, leading to huge stone towers and archways. The guards chuckled behind you.

"First time?" Asked the one on the left.

"Yeah." You replied.

"Welcome to Meridian." said the one on the right.

You nodded and walked forward, moving much faster than before. You stopped short at the bridge and looked at Aloy. "Is it safe?"

Aloy kept walking. "Of course, merchant's carts pass this way every day, it's that or take the elevator."

"There's an elevator?!?"

Aloy laughed, "Yep, but it's a shame you'll never see it, since you're too scared to cross a bridge."

You looked down at the bridge in front of you, then back up at Aloy. You stepped on to the bridge, took a deep breath, and began walking. You fixed your eyes on the city ahead. "Let's move quickly. Where are we headed?"

Aloy strode beside you, clearly not bothered by the deadly drop a mere wooden plank away. “Once we get into the city we’ll meet with Marad, who will take us to see Avad.” You were still staring at everything, and you noticed a few eyes staring back. Actually, every person you passed turned to stare at the two of you. “Hmm.” Aloy piped up. “I’m used to everyone’s eyes on me, we’ll have to get you some new clothes so you don’t stand out so much.”

You were at the entrance of the city now, and again as you passed the guards straightened their postures. You could feel hundreds of eyes on you by now, and it was really starting to make you nervous. Aloy turned right and you followed her. Ahead, a huge building greeted you, it had two sets of staircases to the top, and at the bottom of one stood a man with a strangely woven shirt.

As you approached Aloy went up to speak with him. “We need to speak with Avad.”

The man, who you assumed to be Marad, looked you up and down as you fidgeted in place. “And good evening to you as well. The Sun King has a long line of nobles and merchants he must speak with today, how important is this?”

Aloy leaned toward him and whispered into his ear. His gaze never lifted off of you, but as Aloy spoke, his eyes widened. “I see, come with me, you’ll speak to Sun King Avad immediately.”

He turned to walk up the stairs and Aloy followed after him, you were frozen in place for a moment, but quickly caught up and matched pace with them. “I’m sorry, Mr. Marad, sir? Did you say we were meeting the King?”

Marad nodded his head, “Yes, Sun King Avad, 14th in line. He’ll be very interested to hear about you.”

“So I’ve heard.” You whipped around to face Aloy. “Aloy! Why didn’t you tell me we were meeting the King?!?”

Aloy looked taken aback by your outburst, “Sorry, I must have forgotten to tell you.”

“Forgotten, you forgot? About the King? I have dirt on my face for Pete’s sake!”

“Who’s Pete?”

You sighed and swiped at your face while you marched up the stairs. You tried to ignore Aloy and Marad chuckling in front of you. _Should I bow? I should probably bow. What if I do something wrong and they cut my head off? What if I do everything right and they_ still _cut my head off?_ As you neared the top of the stairs, a line of people dressed in fine robes turned to look at the three of you. As each one noticed the group, their eyes first latched on to Aloy, but they quickly drifted and stuck on to you. As their eyes trailed your movements, you became more and more worried. You really hoped you had gotten the dirt off your face.

At the top of the stairs you faced the back of a throne, beside it stood a man that stuck out like a sore thumb. He was dressed in all brown and a dark yellow. He had on leather armor with metal disks sewn into the fabric. His head was shaved on the sides, giving him a mohawk. He was staring into the distance, but when the three of you came close he turned his head to the three of you. He seemed to recognize Aloy, and smiled softly at her. He gestured at you with his head, and raised an eyebrow. Aloy responded by holding one of her hands up, gesturing for him to wait.

While all of this was happening, you strained to hear a conversation between two unseen men, they seemed to be arguing, but you couldn’t discern their words. The man in brown bent down and whispered into the ear of whoever was sitting on the throne, presumably Avad. By this point you could hear what the other two men were saying.

“Rassan, if you don’t mind, I’m going to have to cut this meeting short.”

The man -Rassan, you assumed- peeked out from the throne to stare at you and Aloy. His face twisted and he huffed. “Well I do mind! What could these outlanders possibly have to say that could be more important than-”

The man in brown stepped forward, one hand raised to pacify the man. His voice was commanding yet calm, “Rassan, I assure you we wouldn’t interrupt you if it wasn’t of the utmost importance. We’ll be happy to discuss whether or not you should get your father’s vineyard at a later time.” He then firmly grabbed the man’s arm and led him away. Rassan shook the man off of him.

“I will see myself out!” Rassan shouted with a flurry of sky blue silks.

“Works for me.” The man let go and returned back to his original post. As Rassan passed, he eyed you and Aloy cruelly. You heard him mutter “Filthy savages.” as he passed, and watched as his silks disappeared around the corner.

Marad walked toward the throne, beckoning you and Aloy to follow, though Aloy seemed as though she wasn’t waiting for his invitation. As she rounded the corner, the voice from before, the King’s, spoke up again. “Aloy! It’s great to see you, what did you-” His voice cut off as you came around the bend after Aloy. You turned to face him, and you saw the King for the first time.

The first thing you noticed was the headdress he wore. It was short but intricate and ornate. It seemed to utilize small white machine parts shaped like feathers, which flared out on the sides. The headdress was beaded in red at the center, but all of it was adorned in gold. For the man himself, he had small tattoos on the corner of his eyes, as well as facial hair that reminded you faintly of Tony Stark. He wore red and white silken pants, with a long white stole over his shoulders. He had some kind of necklace/armor hybrid over the top of his chest, but no shirt on. You figured that was due to the heat.

The King seemed to be looking you over as well, he was squinting, stuck on identifying what your polyester jacket and jean pants were made of. He seemed especially fascinated by the bright color of your shirt, the contrasting purple and yellows peeking out from your unzipped jacket. He tore his gaze away and spoke to Aloy. “Who is this, where do they come from?”

Aloy shook her head. “It’s not about where, Avad. It’s about when.” Both him and the man in brown tilted their heads. Behind you, Marad leaned against the Balcony and crossed his arms, settling himself in. “I was exploring Old One ruins when I came across a huge door. When I opened it, she was inside, frozen for hundreds of years. I freed her, but then we were attacked by machines, and we had to abandon the area.”

Save for the crowd bustling in the city below you, there was no noise. Everyone seemed to be holding your breath, and four pairs of eyes were boring into you. It was intensely uncomfortable.

You remembered you had forgotten to bow.

The man in brown was first to break the silence. “So, what you’re saying is, you,” He pointed at you. “are an Old One? From before the machines took over?”

You nodded. “Yes, I am what you would call an ‘Old One’. Though I don’t much care for the name. My name is [Y/N].” 

You reached your hand out for a handshake, then immediately remembered that Aloy had no idea what that was, and this guy likely wouldn’t either. But it was too late, your hand was already out there. He looked at it, and after an agonizing few seconds you dropped your hand, your ears burning. After failing to regain your composure, he cleared his throat. “Name’s Erend, Erend Vanguardsman, I’m the Captain of the Vanguard, who are a special group of guards specifically tasked with protecting the Sun King, Avad.”

At the mention of his name, Avad perked up, snapping back to reality from wherever the shock of your existence put him. He jumped to his feet and stuck his hand out awkwardly toward you, he nearly hit your chest with his fingertips. He was smiling wide, but after you didn’t move, it quickly faltered. “I thought this was how Old Ones’ greeted each other?” He asked, unsure of himself.

“Oh right!” You briefly wondered if you would be beheaded for touching the king, “It’s just that…” _To hell with it_ , you decided he seemed nice enough, and took his hand, firmly shaking it. “Nice to meet you, I’m [Y/N].” He seemed startled and confused by your actions, but didn’t let go. By this point he had actually started shaking your hand back, and after a few seconds of vigorous painfully silent handshaking, you tried to let go, but he was still holding tight to your hand. “Uh, you can let go now.” Avad immediately dropped your hand, still smiling. A sheepish smile had made its way onto your face as well. Behind you, Aloy was hardly able to contain herself, covering her mouth and coughing to hide her laughter.

“That was a disaster.” sputtered Aloy, having gotten her laughter under control.

“That was a handshake.” You corrected, holding a finger in the air. “And it’s honestly the best one I’ve gotten, as both you and Erend left me hanging. And Avad, -am I allowed to call you that?- The fact that you were able to pick up on that is impressive, though your handshake could use some work.” 

“Anyway.” Marad stepped forward from his lean against the balcony. “As much as I am sure we are all enraptured with the culture of a long forgotten civilization, we are here to discuss the importance of an Old One brought before us. The knowledge they possess is significant, and we can not let it go to waste.”

Avad sat back down, nodding, “Right. So [Y/N], what knowledge do you have?’

Everyone turned to you, and you were in the spotlight again. You swallowed, trying really hard not to panic. “Well, I’d like to start off with saying that I’m just a person. I don’t know every scrap of knowledge my people had. If you asked any random person down there” You turned and swept an arm to the people milling about in the city below. “To tell you about everything, they couldn’t. They’d know some things, but they wouldn’t know everything. However, my focus” You tapped the black piece of tech above your ear. “has information saved on it. It’s mostly to help me with my work. Each Messenger had a specialty, mine was in plants. Agriculture, horticulture, dendrology, ecology, herbalism, if it’s about plants, I know it. But it also has other things, such as stories and songs, as well as cataloged plants and animals.”

Avad leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “So, what can you tell us?”

You thought carefully. You didn’t want to anger these people by telling them something they didn’t want to hear, but you also didn’t want to tell lies to save your neck. _Maybe being honest from the start is the safest route._ You answered Avad, “I can tell you many things, but I can’t guarantee you’ll like what I have to say.”

Avad smiled and leaned back into his throne, “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Just then a yawn snuck up on you, and you tried your best to stifle it -to no avail. “My apologies, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m really tired.”

“Didn’t you sleep for a thousand years?” Asked Aloy.

“I wasn’t sleeping.” You corrected her. “Just frozen, I’m on the same amount of hours as I was before I was frozen, which was about three if I recall correctly.” You paused and ran your fingers through your hair, exhaling. “It’s been a hell of a day for me.”

Avad nodded, “I’m sure it has, we’ll set up some sleeping arrangement for you. Aloy?” He turned his head toward her. “Are you still using Olin’s house?”

“Yes.” She answered. “There’s plenty of room for two.”

“Thank you.” Said Avad. “Then you should head there before the sun fully sets.” He turned back toward you. “And I will call on you when necessary.”

“Sounds good.” You said.

With that you were dismissed, and as Aloy led you away from the throne. The three men behind you erupted into conversation as you descended the stairs. It seemed the nobles from earlier had given up on talking to the king, as there was no one left. You briefly wondered what the future held for you, but before you could dive into it, Aloy interrupted your thoughts.

“So, what do you think?” Her gaze was fixed on wherever you were headed, but her eyes flicked to you when she spoke.

“About what?” You wanted to clarify what she meant before you just dumped all of your anxieties on her. Just in case she _wasn’t_ asking what you thought about being transported a thousand years in the future. Or about losing all your friends. Or about how once you got to the future you found out that pretty much nothing had worked as planned.

“About the city.” 

Alright, you were glad you had clarified. But she had asked a good question. What did you think about the city?

You took a moment to gather your thoughts. 

“Well, for one, I think it’s beautiful. Not just in the way it shines in the light, or the architecture, but in its meaning. Despite the fact that none of humanity’s knowledge was preserved, all this,” You turned around in a circle, spreading your arms to gesture to the buildings and the few people still wandering around in the evening light. “was able to happen. There’s aqueducts, and an elevator, and incredible buildings... It gives me hope.” You stopped and put your hands in your pockets, staring up at the blackening sky. “It just makes me feel like... maybe we didn’t totally screw up.”

Aloy didn’t say anything for a moment, but instead smiled softly. Once you walked to catch up with her she pointed to the house in front of you. “We’re here.” she said. She stepped inside and you followed. Aloy lit a lantern and you could see the house was more spacious than you were expecting, with a second floor, and to your left, what looked like the broken door to a basement. You pointed at the shattered remains of wood and metal.

“Uh, is it supposed to be like that?”

“Don’t worry about that.” Aloy said. She walked up the stairs and beckoned you to come up as well. “The bed’s up here.” You went upstairs to survey the room, and along with the bed was a small cushioned seat, and some paintings. You looked around again and still counted one bed.

“Hmm. Only one bed?” You set your pack on the floor and reached into it, digging around.

Aloy raised her eyebrow. “What’s wrong with that?”

“No offence,” You started. “but I’d rather not share a bed if I don’t have to.” You found what you were looking for, and pulled out a rolled up bunch of cloth about the size of a large water bottle.

“Are you planning on sleeping on the floor?”

You pulled on the strings, and the sleeping bag unraveled in front of you. You spread it out on the floor a few feet left of the bed. “Yep” You dragged your pack up against the wall and Aloy shrugged.

“That’s fine with me.” She sat on the bed, facing you. “By the way, before I forget, tomorrow I’ll take you out to hunt machines. You held your own okay against those Watchers, but you’re going to need to be better than that if you want to survive out here.”

You sat down cross-legged on the bed, it only made sense that you learned how to survive out here. You nodded, “Thank you Aloy. You don’t have to do that.”

She scratched the back of her neck, “Yeah well, it wouldn’t be very good if a Stormbird carried you off would it?” She stood up and went downstairs to blow out the lamp.

“If a what did _what_ ?!?” _What the hell is a ‘Stormbird’?_

The light went out, and you heard Aloy laugh downstairs. “Don’t worry about it.” Seems like there;s a lot of things you shouldn’t worry about. 

She came back upstairs and blew out the candle she had lit moments before, and you sat in darkness. You heard the bed shift, and Aloy’s voice in front of you, “Good night Old One.”

“Night Aloy.”

You sat there in the dark, finally given a chance to think. It had been about the worst twelve hours of your life. Well, it hasn’t really been twelve hours, has it? It felt like just last month you had been preparing for the apocalypse, thinking it was forever away. But that was years ago, hundreds of years ago, and now the plague really was forever away, dead and buried a millennia ago. Well, at least you could stop worrying about that.

Your mind was racing, and you felt like your skull would crack from all the questions you had crammed inside. Your throat constricted and you covered your mouth. You didn’t want to wake Aloy by crying, that would just lead to more questions, and you were too tired for that. 

You decided the best thing to do would just be to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone supporting me through comments, bookmarks and kudos. You've all really motivated me to write this story, and I can't wait to keep writing. Please continue to comment and enjoy, I love hearing speculations or what you enjoyed about the story, trust me, no matter what you say, you're not being annoying! Anyway, thank you, and see you next chapter!


	4. Buried Dread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have a mini freak-out about breakfast, Aloy takes you hunting, and a monster burns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends the lyrical chapter titles. But! Here's chapter four! I was in a bit of a creative slump, but I got over it. (which may or may not have led to me writing until five in the morning.) As always, I hope you enjoy! Please be sure to check the end notes as well!
> 
> Also, I found a nice little chrome extension called "Interactive Fics", it lets you change [Y/N] to your name, and you can change other things as well.

Darkness. The muffled sound of crashing metal enveloped you. You opened your eyes to greet the battlefield waiting for you. As you registered where you were, the sound became clearer, and the hail of gunfire joined the chorus of a million metallic legs jumping and shredding.

You were back on the shore of D.C., battling desperately against the plague. Waves of black gunmetal chassis were crashing against the coast, filled with Scarabs and Khopeshes. Behind them the tendrils of a Horus swirled through the air, consuming biomatter and creating more monsters. 

A soldier to your right called to you, though you couldn't make out their words. They were pointing at a scarab headed straight for you. You reached for your gun, aimed it at the beast, and fired. Nothing happened. Whether it was jammed or you had run out of ammunition, it was worthless. 

There was nothing to do but run.

As you turned to sprint, a sharp whine gave way to heavy bass, the hallmark of a photon tank. You turned your head to your right and watched as the tank shot a purple beam into the sea of machines. Seven scarabs fell to the ground, and seven more took their place.

Distracted by the tank, you tripped and fell, your hands landing in the wet sand. A bone scraping shriek sounded behind you, and you rolled over to see the scarab mere feet in front of you. You were frozen in horror as it crouched and jumped into the air. As it fell, you couldn't do anything other than watch its pointed legs fall closer and closer and-

"[Y/N]. [Y/N]!" You opened your eyes to see Aloy shaking your shoulder. You sat up and rubbed at your eyes, making sure to check that there wasn't any sand on your hands before you did. "Are you alright?" Aloy asked. "You were shouting in your sleep." 

You ran your fingers through your hair and found it damp, you must have been sweating. You also took the moment to notice the dim light peeking through the window, it was early morning. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, attempting to banish the nightmare that had been plaguing you for months. Well, as long as you've been off the front lines. You turned and gave Aloy an exhausted attempt at a smile. "Just a bad dream. I hope I didn't wake you." 

Aloy sat down on the bed. "I've been up for a while already, I went out to buy what you'll need for today, and had just come back to wake you. I was about halfway up the stairs when you started shouting."

"Ah, well-" Something she had said stuck out to you. "’What I'll need for today?’" 

She nodded as she untied and retied her shoes.1 "We're going hunting today, remember? It's nothing too fancy, just some clothes and a simple bow and quiver. I only have so many shards."

You remembered Aloy's offer from last night and rubbed your shoulder. You really hadn't slept well and you're supposed to rest after coming out of cryostasis, but you didn't see yourself with much of a choice. 

Something else Aloy had said piqued your interest. "Shards? What are those?"

Aloy finished fiddling with her shoes and rested her elbows on her thighs. "Shards are bits of metal you harvest from machines. You use them to pay for things, like a bow. Some merchants want more than just shards though, they might want lenses or hearts of certain machines."

You ran your hands through your hair, trying to dry it. "So, shards are money, but there's a bartering system as well? Makes enough sense," you said.

"Exactly," Aloy stood up and walked toward the stairs, she raised her hand to motion you to follow. "Come on, I got breakfast too."

Your heart -and your stomach- leapt at the thought of breakfast. But then you remembered you wouldn't be eating poptarts, it could be something gross, like rabbit livers. You gulped and stood up. you really hoped it wasn't rabbit livers.

As you descended, you hoped for the best but prepared for the worst. The table came into view, and on it was…

A loaf of bread.

Cheese.

And some berries.

Relief washed over you. You were okay with this. You were one hundred percent okay with this.

A smile must have crept on your face because Aloy laughed. "I've never seen someone so excited for breakfast."

You laughed around a handful of berries you had unceremoniously shoved in your mouth. "Yeah well, I wasn't sure what to expect." You ripped off a piece of bread and held it in front of you. "A thousand years pass and people are still eating pretty much the same thing." You popped the bread in your mouth, it was still warm, and tasted slightly salty.

~~~

You crouched in the grass, the long stalks tickled your face. You and Aloy were studying a group of striders as they meandered around the field. Weaving between them were two Watchers. Aloy had already shown you how you could use your focus to track the machines and their movements, so you sat and followed the watchers with your Focus as they passed by, completely unaware of their imminent demise.

Aloy’s voice broke the silence to your right. “So,” She whispered once the watcher had passed. “How do you think we should approach this?” She shifted her weight between her feet. She had her bow out in front of her with an arrow nocked, just in case a machine spotted one of you.

You took a last once-over before speaking. “I think the first thing to do is to take down the watchers, if the herd is alerted, it’s all over. We each go for a watcher, once they’re down, we move closer to the herd and take down as many as we can.”

“Not the worst hunting strategy I’ve heard, you’re picking it up quickly. Just remember to go for the lens with the Watchers.” Aloy said. You nodded. “After you.”

You nocked an arrow and pointed your bow to the Watcher on your left. Based on its trail, it would turn towards you any second. Beside you, grass rustled, and you assumed Aloy was getting in a similar position, instead trained to the watcher on the right.

You held your breath as the Watcher rounded the turn. You pulled your bowstring back and briefly wondered how it couldn’t see you with its light pointed directly at your position. You let the arrow fly and sink into the Watcher, its light extinguished as it fell to the ground. Behind you you heard a similar sound, and when you looked over your shoulder Aloy’s Watcher was lying on the ground, motionless.

You silently stepped out of the grass and towards another patch about ten feet away, Aloy followed close behind. Once in the grass you set your sites on a Strider each. You both readied your bows, and loosed nearly in sync. Each of your arrows hit their targets, but while Aloy’s Strider fell to the ground, yours did not. Instead it reared up, alerting the other machines to scatter. 

The Strider readied itself to charge, scratching the ground and throwing its head. Aloy jumped out of the way but you held your ground, standing up as you pulled back an arrow. The Strider’s lenses turned red as it charged toward you, and you let go of the bowstring. 

The arrow found its mark, and the Strider fell to the ground, skidding to a stop at your feet. You let your breath go and smiled, you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t been scared.

Aloy rejoined you. "I’ve never seen someone do that before -other than myself- that kind of bravery… you've got good instincts."

Your smile tightened into a line. "Yeah… I guess I do."

You glanced around the clearing, the rest of the herd had fled and was nowhere to be found. You slung your bow over your shoulder2 and bent down over the felled Strider. 

You rolled it on to its side and began pulling apart the plating. While Aloy had said you were hunting for resources, all you cared about was what this thing was for. You found tubing in its head which ran to a canister in its chassis, when you cut it open, grass fell out. On the other side of the canister was similar tubing, however when you cut that one open, blaze poured out. You cut open another tube, disconnected from the system, blaze poured out of that one too. You walked over to one of the Watchers and cut a tube there as well, just like the Strider, blaze dripped out.

Aloy bent down next to you. “What are you doing?”

You wiped your hands on your pants. “I’m trying to figure out this machine’s purpose. It seems it turns organic matter, such as grass, into blaze, which the machines then use as fuel.” You scratched your head. “It’s just, I don’t get it.”

“Get what?” asked Aloy.

“These machines, the Watchers and Striders, they make sense. They each serve a purpose by terraforming and scouting. But those, what were they called? Revengers?”

“Ravagers.” Aloy corrected.

“Ravagers.” You echoed. “Those Ravagers don’t make sense. They don’t aid in repopulation, if anything they harm it. Why?”

Aloy sighed, “I'm not sure but… when I was a baby, there was a “Derangement”. It’s when all the hunters say the machines went mad. I don’t remember a time before the Derangement, but I’ve been told that the machines used to be docile, and they would always flee, instead of fighting. But then one day they started attacking, and more dangerous machines, like Ravagers, started appearing.”

“Hmm.” What could have caused this “Derangement”? You wondered.

Aloy watched as you continued to harvest shards and wire. She pointed at your handiwork. “You seem to understand machines pretty well.”

“Yeah… I guess I just know where to look.” You answered.

Aloy seemed to debate something with herself, then she bit her lip. “I want to show you something, I’ve got an idea.”

She stood up and started off into the wilderness. You scrambled to gather your things and jogged to catch up with her. 

Aloy turned to you, walking backwards, “Oh, I meant to ask before, what was that pink wall that you used yesterday, when we were fighting the Watchers?” she asked.

“Oh this?” You flashed the ‘pink wall’ and rotated your arm, it followed the outside of your forearm as you moved, just a half-inch in front of the skin. “It’s a shield, it blocks physical attacks like the legs of a Watcher, and energy attacks such as the laser from a Ravager.”

Aloy nodded. “Oh I get it, like a Shellwalker?”

“I don’t know what a Shellwalker is, but probably.”

“Where does it come from?” asked Aloy.

You tapped on the Focus above your ear. “My Focus makes it, It’s a special combat model, designed by Faro himself3.” 

Aloy fell into silence again, content with your answers. You used the lull to ask your own question, “So, where are we going?”

Aloy took a moment to answer, “To see a very special machine.”

~~~

You scrabbled over the hot rock, careful not to cut your hands on the jagged edges. You and Aloy had left behind the grassy fields North of Meridian for the naked desert beyond. It had gotten considerably hotter, and judging by the position of the sun, it was just after noon4. The clothes Aloy had gotten you breathed well, but that didn't stop the sweat from collecting at the back of your neck. You swatted at a persistent sweat bee that had been circling you for the last few minutes. Part of you wished Artemis hadn't brought them back.

Suddenly Aloy stopped and stretched out her hand beside her, signaling you to pause as well. 

"It's just over this ridge. We have to be careful, Corruptors aren't like other machines," said Aloy.

Before you could ask what a Corruptor was, you heard it. It was a heart-lurching noise. It was the sound that haunted your sleepless nights and waking moments.

You didn't need to ask Aloy what the machine down there was, you knew. You had seen hundreds, thousands of them. You remembered when they were unveiled at Faro Industries' annual tech conference.

It was the source of your nightmares. It was a war machine. It was the end of the world.

It was a Scarab.

You threw your arm over your shoulder, reaching for the gun that wasn't there. Your fist closed on air and your nails dug into your palm. 

There was nothing to do but run.

But your legs refused to move, and even if they could, your lungs couldn't find any oxygen as you gulped down the suddenly thin air. Panic gripped your stomach with an iron strength as your legs found the meager ability to back you into a rock. 

Your arms flung to the sides, anchoring you to your shelter. At this moment you realized you had been speaking.

"No, no, no. They should be dead. They should be dead! I don't understand! They should be dead!" You knew it was your voice, but you couldn't grasp that you were speaking. It was hard to imagine, in all your fear, that you even existed at all.

Movement in front of you caught your eye, and you snapped back to the present. It was Aloy. Her eyebrows were pressed in concern as she gently laid a hand on your shoulder. She seemed unsure of what to do, like she was not used to such comforting actions, but was driven to help regardless.

And in that moment you saw Elisabet. Your Liz. She was fiery determination and never-ending care. You swallowed a hundred unspoken feelings. After all, they were for a dead woman, and Aloy didn't deserve your mess.

Aloy's voice was soft and steady.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

You shook your head and wiped a tear from your eye. Her presence calmed you, and your breathing slowed. It still shook, but it slowed. You fidgeted, twisting your fingers in your shaking hand.

"Those machines... those monsters... they should- they should be dead."

Aloy turned back toward the machine. "They were, until a cultist group called the Eclipse brought them back to life. But all their time in the sand has weakened them, I'll show you."

Aloy picked up her bow, and you watched as she pulled an arrow out of the quiver. This one was different from the others, it had a kind of glaze over it. She ignited it and the smell hit you. The arrow was doused in blaze.

"Corruptors are especially vulnerable to fire." Aloy said as she nocked an arrow.

You couldn't believe her. Hundreds of soldiers and state-of-the-art photon tanks could barely take these things down, and she was going to do it with a bow and arrow?

"You can't be seri-" before you could finish, Aloy let the arrow fly. Four more quickly chased after it. The sound of fire caught your attention, and you looked over the edge of the rock, flattening yourself against the ground as you did.

For the first time you set your eyes on the Scarab. It was far below you, as Aloy had brought you both to a cliff, providing safety. The Scarab itself was on fire, and as it burned Aloy shot more arrows into the machine. 

You remembered your own bow and retrieved it from where you had dropped it on the ground. You nocked an arrow and aimed toward the machine. All the times you had done similar motions flashed behind your eyes, but this time you didn't have a gun. No. You had a bow and arrow.

You pulled back on the bowstring and let go, and watched as the arrow embedded itself into the Corruptor's eye.

The machine went rigid and fell to the ground, nothing more than a pile of metal and plastic.

Aloy bumped your shoulder with her own. "Not a bad shot. Now come on, we've got a part to harvest."

You followed Aloy down and around the cliff to where the Corruptor's body laid. She dug through its parts while you scanned the area around you for incoming machines. 

Aloy muttered to herself as she searched, "Now it should be riiiight… Aha!" She yanked out a piece of the machine, a smooth black cylinder. She held it out to you, proud of her find.

You raised your eyebrow and took the part with a tentative hand. "What… is it?" You asked.

"Well, it's the part that corrupts!" She answered. She stood up and rubbed her hands together, dispelling the dirt and grease. "You can use it to override a machine, once you do, they'll follow you." She began walking away, gesturing as she spoke. "At first it can only corrupt simple machines, like Striders and Broadheads, but if you take it to a Cauldron, you can override more powerful machines." You studied the cylinder in your hands. It had caused so much destruction a millennia ago, and now it's power was yours.

Aloy's voice cut through your thoughts. "But first, I'll show you how to use it, there's a herd of Striders just over there."  
~~~

You bounced on the back of the Strider, you had expected the metal to burn you in the desert heat, but it was surprisingly cool. The Corruptor piece sat in your pack5, you made a mental note to find a way to make it more accessible. 

As you neared Meridian Aloy pulled up in front of you and stopped. You told your Strider to stop as well.

"Seeing how well you've done today makes me confident you can handle yourself, just don't go charging toward a Thunderjaw and you should be fine." She stated. Her matter-of-fact tone made you believe she had been rehearsing that phrase for at least the last few minutes.

"I suppose you're over being my babysitter then? Is this your heart-felt goodbye?" You teased.

Aloy shook her head and smiled. "I was hardly babysitting you, and I wouldn't call this a goodbye, we’ll see each other again. Besides, I’m coming back with you, but in the morning I'm leaving, the Eclipse is still out there."

You nodded, and then a thought struck you. "Oh! I just thought of something, hand me your Focus." 

She tentatively removed her Focus and handed it to you while you brought up your contacts. You took off your own Focus and held it in front of hers, each pointing to the other.

The lights glowed orange, then blinked blue. You handed her Focus back to her, and clipped yours back on to your ear.

"There, now we can call each other, do you see how-" Aloy nodded as she flipped through the screens. Your Focus chimed as she called you, and you answered it. She reeled back as your holographic face popped up in front of her.

"You figured it out! Congrats!” You tried not to laugh at her bewildered purple-tone face on your HUD. “Now to end the call, press the red button." Aloy lifted her hand and the call ended. You turned to her. 

"Now, If you ever need me -or anyone in Meridian- you can just call! Or I could call you if need be."

Aloy nodded. "Thank you." She said. "I'm sure that will help."

You smiled. "Well of course, you gave me such a great gift, I thought I'd return the favor."

Aloy snapped the reins on her Strider and you both continued to the city. Aloy turned back to you.

"Oh by the way, you can use the bed while I'm gone."

  1.     1. She used the bunny-ear method.  [ ^ ]
    2. An act you were still getting used to.  [ ^ ]
    3. The bastard himself.  [ ^ ]
    4. A quick look at your Focus's HUD confirmed it was 1:34 pm.  [ ^ ]
    5. It was clanging against your canteen, the sound was nearly driving you crazy.  [ ^ ]



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, remember how I asked to read the end notes? That's because I need a beta reader! Right now I have someone checking to make sure the writing itself makes sense, but uh, they don't know anything about the game. However, all of you do! So, if you want to be a beta reader, please contact me! You can either reach me on Tumblr at horizonzerodawnaesthetic, or Discord at Scribe_Of_Planes#0297. And of course, you can always ask questions about what's going to happen, so feel free to comment below! (or send an ask on Tumblr, whichever you prefer)


	5. The Voice of Our Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader's scavenging trip takes a turn for the worst, but a stranger comes along to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, hey guys, how's it going? It's been... awhile. I hope you're all doing alright! It took some time to get back into the flow of writing, but I'm here now! Life update: I'm in college now! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

You lifted the head of the felled watcher and carefully cut the wires holding the lens in place. You placed it in your pack1, with the other machine parts you had scavenged so far. Then you looped the straps over the neck of your tamed Strider.

It had been three days since Aloy left, and you had been busying yourself with understanding the machines Heph2. had created. You crouched over a Grazer, focused on its mechanical antlers. You swiped at the end of one and it spun freely, reminding you of a hand mixer.

You wiped the sweat from your forehead and scanned the horizon. To the northwest was an old Shadow Carja outpost, recently cleared by Aloy. After you were done with the machines you planned on checking it out. You wanted to get a closer look at Carjan architecture, and the guards in Meridian wouldn’t stop giving you weird looks.

Your Strider huffed and scratched at the ground behind you, a motion that was usually followed by a stray Watcher charging towards you. You took a quick glance around, but there wasn’t anything near you. You patted the machine’s shoulder.

“There’s nothing out there, it’s alright.”

Just then the grass behind you rustled, and you whipped around to see a man rise out of the grass just twenty feet in front of you. Before you could react, a circle of people dressed in rags and slathered in mud and red paint stood from their hiding spots, bows primed and aimed at you. 

_ Bandits. _

You looked back at your Strider just in time to watch it scream and fall to the ground, and as you spun around, one of the bandits lowered their bow. Speaking of bows, yours was still on the ground by the grazer. If you dove for it you could grab it, but then what? 

The first bandit walked forward slowly with his fingers steepled, he stretched a broad smile onto his even broader face. 

“What luck, the machine taming Old One wandered straight into our camp.” His voice was rough yet carefully articulated. The bandit that killed your watcher had finished nocking another arrow and aimed it towards you. Your heart was beating so fast you felt it would burst out of your chest and run all the way back to Meridian without you. You tried to back up but your heel hit the Strider’s body, and you had to catch yourself from tripping.

The bandit nodded to someone behind you. You tried to turn your head but were quickly stopped by an arm wrapping around your neck. Your hands flew up to the attacker’s arm as another hand pushed your head further into the hold. You clawed and pulled but to no avail. The arm continued to tighten around the sides of your neck as your vision faded. 

The last thing you saw was the bandit leader, his head tilted, and smile wide.

~~~

Your head was pounding,  _ where am I? _ You tried to rub your head, but your arms wouldn’t reach you. 

“Ah ah ah.” scolded an unidentifiable, yet familiar voice. You forced your eyes open and lifted your head to greet the bandit leader.  _ Oh right. _ “You’re not going anywhere until you give us what we want.” He stood to your left, and behind him was a table which held your bow and Focus.

You struggled again, and your efforts were met with two large hands squeezing harder on each of your shoulders, pinning you to the chair. You looked up to see a bandit glaring back down at you. 

You blinked hard and dropped your head to stare at the ground. Your head was killing you, and you could barely focus. “Word of the awakened Old One has spread far.” Oh, was he still talking? You should probably listen to that. But that voice was so loud, did he really have to shout? Was he shouting? It’s hard to tell. Wait, what is he saying? You definitely missed something. “- and mother always told me the Old Ones were weak, but surely that’s not true? Such strong creations must have come from strong people. I respect you Old One, so, what do you say? Help us out, and we’ll let you go, simple as that.”

_ Bullshit _ . It was pretty obvious these guys were going to kill you as soon as they were finished with you, and who knew what they would do to you until then. Hell, you didn’t even know what they  _ wanted _ . But you had no weapons, and without your Focus, you couldn’t call for help. 

You shook your head and squeezed your eyes shut.  _ Think,  _ **_think!_ ** But the only thing you could do was stall and hope for the best. And if they did break you, you could at least try to escape.

You looked back up to the leader, whose head was cocked as he eagerly awaited your response.

“You know,” you began, prompting the leader to visibly perk up. “I was rather attached to that Strider3

He wagged a finger at you. “It’s funny you should mention that,” he said. “Because that’s exactly what I wanted to talk about.”

The leader laced his fingers together. “You see, I don’t think it’s very fair that you -an Old One- and that...  outlander4 get to travel around with your tamed Striders, while I have to kick around in the dirt. Someone as strong as me should have a strong machine to match. So, I think it would be very generous of you if you showed us how you so expertly tame the machines.”

_ Oh hell no. _ Sure, he may say he wants Striders for now, but you knew it wouldn’t be long before he would be demanding Sawtooths, and the world didn’t really need anymore idiots running around with a machine army.

You plastered on the most apologetic smile you could, and with the most annoying customer-service voice you could muster, you said, “Ooh sorry. I really can’t do that for you. And, even if I could, I don’t help people whose breath smells like dogshit.” 

The leader scowled and quickly raised his hand, causing you to flinch. When no hit came, you slowly opened your eyes to look at him. He laughed. “That was a warning, Old One, pull something like that again and I won’t hold back.”

You gulped, your chances of rescue were seeming slimmer by the moment, and you really didn’t want to take a beating. Still, you had to hold out a little longer, at least so you could say you tried.

“I’m only going to ask nicely one more time,” he said. “How do you tame the machines?”

You exhaled, puffing out your cheeks in the process. At least you could say you tried. “I ask  _ very _ nicely.”

His fist connected with the side of your head before you even registered that it had moved. Your head whipped to the right from the impact as the pain seared through your skull. Your breathing shook, and the metallic taste of blood coated your tongue. 

He cracked his knuckles in his hand. “You’re going to tell us-”

“I found the rope!” shouted one of the bandits, jogging toward you.

The leader dropped his shoulders and sighed, “Well it’s a bit late now!” he sneered. “What took so long anyway?” As they began talking, a movement beyond them struck your attention. 

You didn’t see what it was, but you were able to catch when it happened again. One of the bandits in the sniper’s nest stiffened and collapsed onto the wood. Another bandit had noticed as well, but before he could call out, an arrow flew into his head. He fell to the ground, his shout caught in his throat.

A patch of grass about fifty feet in front of you rustled, and a head clad in red feathers popped out. 

The head turned, and he made eye contact with you. He held a finger up to his lips and you nodded once.

The leader turned his attention back to you, and you snapped your head back to him, not wanting to give away what was happening.

“My patience is wearing thin Old One.” He slammed his fist on the table. “How do you tame the machines?!” He leaned over you, close enough that his breath assaulted your nose5

Out of the corner of your eye you saw the man slowly ready an arrow. You swallowed your fear, safety was just a few seconds away, you only needed to stall a moment longer.

“Now that’s a great question,” you smiled. “but before I answer it, I have a quick question for you. How does it feel to have an arrow sticking out of your neck?”

The bandit leader’s reddened face turned incredulous. He opened his mouth to shout, but never had the chance.

THUNK!

The bandit leader fell to his side, an arrow sticking out of his head. Not the neck, but it was really all the same to him.

At the same time, the bandit that had been holding you down jumped away from you in terror, and you sprung into action. 

You leapt towards the table, grabbing your Focus first. Next you slung your quiver over your shoulder and snatched your bow off the table. You pulled an arrow from your quiver and pulled it back on the string. The bandit who had been holding you in place charged forward, and you let your arrow fly. It sunk into his chest and he fell forward, dropping just in front of your feet.

Using your Focus you did a quick scan of the remaining bandits. The man in red had done quick work of the group, and there were only four- make that three bandits left. Two were on the railing to the right of where you had been held, and one was on the ground, charging toward you with all the grace and sanity of a War Boy from  _ Mad Max _ . 

You readied another arrow and aimed for his chest, though his erratic movements made it merely slice through the side of his shoulder. He didn’t seem at all bothered by this and continued to charge as you reached for another arrow. 

You backed up to give yourself more time, and in your haste struggled to place the arrow on the string. Finally you got it, and you launched the arrow in front of you. This one did find it's mark in the bandit's chest, and as he stumbled forward you had to hop to the side to avoid his crumpling body.

You turned back towards the balcony. The stranger had taken care of one of the archers, leaving the other scrambling for cover. Before he could reach it, however, an arrow sunk into his shoulder, and was quickly followed by another in his chest. He hit the floor, sending his bow skittering across the stones.

The stranger stood to your left, about twenty feet away. You walked towards him as he slung his bow over his shoulder with practiced ease6

“Thank you, I don’t think I would’ve gotten out of that without you,” you said.

“Oh I didn’t do it for you. Frankly I didn’t know you were there. Though you did provide a good distraction.”

You shrugged your shoulders. “Yes, well, I try my best. Still, I have you to thank that a black eye is the worst of my injuries, care to tell me the name of my ‘savior’?” 

The stranger stretched his shoulders as he talked, rolling the muscle under his hand. “Nil.” He answered. “And this here,” he pointed to the bow on his back, “ is  _ The Voice of Our Teeth _ .”

You nodded. “So people still name their weapons? Cool.” You looked around for your pack, locating it behind the now overturned chair you had been kept at. You were about to retrieve it when you remembered your manners. “Oh, name’s [Y/N]. Thank you for your help Nil.”

You got your bag from the corner and dug through it, pulling out a pocket knife. “This,” You opened the knife and turned it, showing off the curved blade, “is  _ Kindness _ .”

Nil chuckled, “ _ Kindness _ ? That’s a strange name for a weapon.”

“Yes well-” you folded the knife and placed it in your pocket, where it would be more helpful than in your pack. “-my mom always told me to kill people with kindness.”

Nil erupted into laughter. It seemed like the funniest thing he had heard in years, and you couldn’t help but chuckle along with him.

He began leaving the compound and you realized he had not even looted the bodies of the bandits. You pondered his purpose for killing them. He had already said it was not to save you. Perhaps it was a noble cause?  _ Maybe he killed the bandits to make the world a safer place, and he wouldn’t loot their bodies because of his morals? _

You followed him out of the bandit’s makeshift camp. Once out, you got a bearing of your surroundings, you could tell that you had been ambushed just over the hill in front of you.

You broke off from Nil and returned to your felled Strider. You pulled out the saddlebags from under the machine. You glanced around and spotted a small outcropping of rocks. You shoved the bags in a crack between the rocks and set a reminder on your focus to retrieve them later. You would not be able to carry the parts on your own, and you were not keen on taming a machine in front of Nil.

You rejoined Nil, he seemed to be headed in the same direction as Meridian, and he was the best company you’ve had all day.

“You have blood on your face,” Nil said, waving his fingers above his left cheek.

“Oh, gross.” You used your palm to rub it off, the dried blood flaking and falling to the ground.

“Hardly,” remarked Nil. “Blood is beautiful. As it spills, hot and thick, from your enemies, it paints the ground with proof of your work. And it has the most beautiful color, I’ve only ever seen one thing like it. I’m actually quite jealous.”

You wondered if you had been safer with the bandits.

“What was the one other thing? That looked like… blood?” You asked, desperate to change the conversation before Nil decided he hadn’t yet seen enough of the substance.

"Oh, her. A traveling partner of mine. Now and again our paths converge at festering places such as this, and our work is clawed into the land." Nil tilted his head, staring into the sky. His eyes wrinkled with reminiscence. "She's very skilled with a bow, not to mention her strange way with machines. I saw your Strider, or rather, what was left of it. Have you met her as well?"

"You mean Aloy, right?" you asked. Nil nodded once, smiling. "Then yes I've met her. And yes, she's the one who tamed the machine for me. I didn't do that. I don't know how to do it, definitely not. What a strange and unknown power she has huh?" You smiled nervously.

Nil squinted at you, tilting his head. That was definitely the stupidest lie you had ever told. "You said something strange," he said slowly.

You gulped. "Strange? What do you mean? I never said anything strange." You avoided all eye contact as you walked side by side, towards Meridian.

"Oh I believe you did," Nil said. "You said 'people still name their weapons?'.  _ Still _ .  _ Still _ name their weapons. Now, what did you mean by that?"

Damn he was observant. Though, if one of you was the observant one, it probably wasn't the one ambushed by a group of bandits just a few hundred feet from their camp. You tossed around a few answers in your head, trying to find one that would satisfy him, without saying too much.

You finally settled on what to say. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," you said.

Nil shook his head with a light chuckle, he was determined to get a straight answer. "I also never would have believed someone could tame and ride machines either. I also never believed I would have seen one of those again either." He pointed at the Focus above your ear, and you slapped your hand over it.

You dropped your hand. "Fine.” you huffed. “You want the truth? I was put in a box and frozen for about  _ -ohhh- _ a thousand years. Then our friend Aloy got me out.” 

Nil seemed a bit shocked by your words, but he quickly recovered. "You were right, I don't believe you," he said. “Or rather, I wouldn’t, if you weren’t so strange. Your clothes are unlike any material I’ve ever seen, from beast or machine. And I’ve never heard your way of speaking from any tribe. Even still, a thousand years, wouldn’t that make you…” he trailed off, clearly still caught off guard.

“That’s right, nice to meet you Nil, I'm an Old One." You thrust out your hand, completely forgetting that he wouldn't know what to do with it. It sat there in the space between you until you dropped it, slapping it against your thigh.

Nil had stopped walking and was facing you. One of his eyebrows was cocked and he seemed to be searching for the answer to his confusion somewhere in your face. “But still, how could you have survived, it’s impossible,” he said.

“Like I said, frozen,” you answered. “And to be totally honest, we didn’t really think it would work either. But hey, it beats the alternative.”

“What was the alternative?” he asked.

“Suffocating to death7,” you answered. 

“Then I suppose this  _ is _ better. Well Old One, I must warn you, they-  _ you _ aren’t terribly popular around here,” he said.

You chuckled, “Trust me, you don’t need to tell me that-” you motioned to your bruised face- “He wasn’t the only one in the Sundom that wanted to smack me around, he’s just the only one that got the chance to.”

“You’ve made enemies so quickly? For shame,” he teased.

You waved your arms in defense. “It’s not that  _ I’ve _ made enemies… my people did,” you said. “Does that make sense?”

“I know exactly what you mean.” Nil nodded. “Well Old One, where are headed?” He asked, his tone was much more cheerful than just a second before.

“Meridian,” you told him. 

“Well then, would you mind if I came along? I’m going that way and this hunter wouldn’t mind some pleasant company,” he said.

_ A hunter? Then what was he doing with the bandits? Maybe he really had come to help, and he was just being humble. _ Then you remembered his little blood speech from earlier, who the hell was this guy?

“I wouldn’t mind, though I do have a question for you; what were you doing at that bandit hideout in the first place?” you asked.

Nil smiled, his canines poking out from behind his lips. “Ah, well. I have a  _ special interest _ in bandits. They provide for me something I simply can’t get anywhere else; a good hunt.” He fiddled with the hilt of the sword sheathed at his side. “A good hunt is like nothing else in this world. Don’t you agree? I know you tasted it for yourself back there.”

You nodded. “I suppose I understand. The adrenaline of a battle, the excitement that comes with a life or death battle, and that comes with victory.” While you spoke, your eyes were glued to his sword. You were preparing yourself to dodge it should it come your way. 

Nil caught on to your staring and shook his head. “Oh, don’t worry about this, I’m just a bit restless after the battle. Let me put it this way; are you a bandit?” he asked.

“No, of course not,” you said, your eyes flickering from the sword back up to his face.

“Then you don’t have to worry about me,” he said, dropping his hand to his side. “The way you spoke of battle, you seem acquainted with it.”

You looked away from him. “I’ve had my fair share,” you said. You squeezed your eyes shut in an attempt to dam the memories threatening to flood your mind. 

“I see, sometimes memories are better left to action than words.” he said. 

You both walked in a comfortable silence as the shadows grew longer and longer beside you.

Soon after you reached Meridian, and Nil stopped short of the city. 

“This is where I leave you Old One,” he said.

You were surprised, it was already dark enough to make out the herds of machines by their lights alone, it hardly seemed like a good idea to head out alone, even for Nil. “Are you sure? There’s some nasty machines out there, and people too.”

“There’s nothing in the wilds that I can’t handle, don’t worry about me,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“At least let me buy you a drink for saving my ass out there, it’s the least I could do.”

“I’ll have to turn you down, I don’t go in there anymore.”

_ ‘Anymore’? What a strange man indeed. _ “Well then, I owe you one, don’t let me forget that.”

“I won’t.” 

Without another word, Nil turned and headed back into the wilds, melding into the night.

  1. It had been emptied of all but the essentials that morning to prepare for today's scavenging. [ ^ ]
  2. Everyone always wrote and said "Heph" over comms, even Elisabet. Hephaestus was almost always spelled with a typo. [ ^ ]
  3. It's name was Epona.  [ ^ ]
  4. The sneer on his face reminded you of the nobles back in Meridian.  [ ^ ]
  5. Note to self: re-introduce toothpaste to humanity. [ ^ ]
  6. You couldn't help but watch how the muscles twisted in his arm, you would have to try it yourself. [ ^ ]
  7. The pods had airtight seals, if the freezing process had malfunctioned in any way, well, you already know what would have happened. [ ^ ]




End file.
